Ameriquest 300 - Kyle Busch Notes

PREVIEW: KYLE BUSCH (NO. 5 LOWE'S/HITACHI CHEVROLET)
VENUE: CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY (1.5-MILE OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR BUSCH SERIES (RACE 27 OF 35)
EVENT: SATURDAY, SEPT. 2 (200 LAPS, 300 MILES)

BUSCH AT CALI: Kyle Busch will make his fourth career NASCAR Busch Series start at California Speedway on Saturday. He and his No. 5 Lowe's Racing team earned two top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile track in 2004.

RECORD BREAKER: Busch broke two long-standing NASCAR records at California Speedway last year. By winning the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup pole in February, Busch became the youngest driver to earn the series' top starting spot. Busch then won the September event there, becoming the youngest driver in NASCAR Cup history to visit Victory Lane.

GO BLUE: Prior to Saturday's track activities, Busch will be watching his beloved University of Michigan Wolverines kick off their season against the Vanderbilt University Commodores. Busch picks Michigan over Vandy 28-14.

WINNING CAR: Crew chief Chad Walter has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 356 as the primary option for Saturday's Busch Series event at California Speedway. The car has been raced at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway this year.

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STATER BROS. RACE FEST IN CALI: Kyle Busch will sign autographs on Thursday, Aug. 31 beginning at 6 p.m. local time at the Ontario (Calif.) Convention Center.

WALK OF FAME INDUCTION: Busch will be inducted into the Walk of Fame at California Speedway for his record-breaking win in the September 2005 NEXTEL Cup race there. The ceremony will take place on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 12 p.m. local time at Gate 12.

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KYLE BUSCH, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 LOWE'S/HITACHI CHEVROLET: (WHAT DO YOU EXPECT IN CALIFORNIA?) "I really expect to find the same success at California as we've experienced in the past. I won my first Cup race there last fall and finished 10th in the Cup car there earlier this year. I had two top-10 finishes there in the Busch car back in 2004. It's really been a good track for me, in both the Cup and Busch cars, so I always look forward to racing there. I've kind of taken to California Speedway rather quickly."

BUSCH: (ON COMPARING MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY TO CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY.) "Michigan is probably the closest track to California, so we tend to use the notes from each track when we go to the other. There's more banking and more grip at Michigan than California, so for us to use the same notes for each race, it's kind of a gamble. The biggest thing we can transfer is information on the rear spring split and information on how to make the Lowe's/Hitachi Chevrolet turn well."

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CHAD WALTER, CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 5 LOWE'S/HITACHI CHEVROLET: (WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ENTERING CALIFORNIA THIS WEEK?) "I'm really looking forward to the California race on Saturday night. Only a year ago, Kyle won his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race there, so it's obvious that this is a track that's good for him and a track that he enjoys racing on. It seems like any time we race west of Texas --Phoenix, California and especially Las Vegas -- Kyle drives a little harder. Those are all basically home tracks for him, so when we head out there I know he's going to drive even harder than he normally does."

WALTER: (YOU HAD A ROUGH WEEKEND IN CALIFORNIA IN FEBRUARY. HOW HAVE YOU PREPARED FOR THIS WEEKEND?) "That weekend in the spring was tough. We suffered a little damage to the Lowe's Chevrolet in the first practice and spent most of the day repairing the car. In the second practice, we did the same thing, so I think, in total, Kyle got about six laps of practice before the race. We ended up finishing about 23rd. We, as a team, have come along way since then. We've definitely improved when it comes to chassis building. We've also changed the way we approach each race. I really think that we've meshed. So, hopefully, this weekend will provide a different result."

WALTER: (ON COMPARING CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY AND MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY.) "California and Michigan are incredibly similar, with the only major difference being that California is a fairly slick track. The constant heat out there does it, I guess. We had a great car at Michigan, but got stuck pretty far back in the field after a mechanical failure during our first pit stop. Without that problem we probably would've come out of there with a top-five finish. So, we'll take a lot of the notes and setup information from that race in Michigan two weeks ago to California this weekend and hope for a top-five finish there."